


Family

by blue_lazurite



Category: Hilda (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Gen, Light Angst, Multi, for now, if you're just here for johanna/librarian you're only gonna want chapter 2, oh just so I don't mislead anyone this is a mostly hilda-centric fic, some johanna/librarian fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-12
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:20:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22166278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blue_lazurite/pseuds/blue_lazurite
Summary: Johanna and the librarian have moved in together and couldn't be happier; the only one who isn't happy about things is Hilda. While Hilda comes to terms with how things are changing, the librarian realises that getting Hilda to accept her as part of the family might be harder than she had thought.
Relationships: Johanna | Hilda's Mum/The Librarian (Hilda), The Librarian & Hilda (Hilda)
Comments: 34
Kudos: 60





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A sort of continuation from my last fic. A few months have passed and Hilda has to come to terms with the changes taking place in her family.

“You’re back? Again?”

Hilda was barely listening as she picked herself up from where she had fallen into the nowhere-space. She stood up and rolled her eyes at the nisse standing before her, arms crossed.

“It’s nice to see you again too,” she replied, making her way over to an armchair and swinging herself up onto it. Tontu sighed and followed her, collapsing onto a stray cushion. “Did you at least bring snacks this time?”

“Yep,” Hilda reached into her schoolbag and threw him a packet at random. “Soo can I stay?”

Tontu shrugged. “Why should today be any different?”

Hilda shifted uncomfortably, all too aware that Tontu made a good point; she had been coming down here more and more lately.

“Maybe I could visit you, up there, sometime,” Tontu continued, “see for myself what’s bothering you so much.”

“I’m not bothered,” Hilda pulled her schoolbag onto her lap and reached into it for her sketchbook. “I just needed somewhere quiet – if you don’t mind.”

Tontu sighed. He sat still for a moment, staring at the ceiling, then strolled over to Hilda. He reached over her and flipped through the sketchbook absent-mindedly.

“What’s uh, this supposed to be?” He pointed to a thick tangle of lines enclosing what could have been two sharp, green eyes.

“An owlcat.”

“Oh – Freyja?”

“Yep.”

Tontu re-examined the drawing. “She looks angry,” he observed.

“I couldn’t draw her right, she kept moving,” Hilda sighed. “At least the trolls in the wilderness stayed still.”

There was a moment of silence as Tontu recalled Hilda telling him she was once chased by a troll, meant to point this out, then thought better of it. He flipped the page over. There were a lot of sketches he recognised, drawn from memory, that she had done in the times she had visited him before - pages of them.

“You can’t keep coming down here, you know,” Tontu reminded her. “You belong up there, in your home. Your parents aren’t going to like it.”

“My – what?” Hilda said. “Oh – you mean Mum. Maven doesn’t count.”

Tontu shrugged. “They’re still not going to like it if you keep sneaking off here. Besides – ”

_“Hilda!”_

The two of them jumped at the sudden shout. There was an unmistakable note of panic in the caller’s voice.

“That’s Mum!” Hilda leapt to her feet and crammed the sketchbook back into her bag. “Quick,” she said, looking around frantically, “which one of these exits leads to my room?”

Tontu sighed and pointed to an opening just behind her, and she spun around and sprinted over to it.

“Thanks Tontu!” Hilda called over her shoulder. “See you later!”

“Or maybe you could spend time in your actual home?” Tontu called after her, but Hilda wasn’t listening. She leapt into the opening and disappeared.

Moments later, Hilda was back in her room – under her bed to be exact. She pulled herself out and ran out into the hallway, just as her mother was approaching the door. The two of them almost collided and she jumped back in surprise.

“I’m right here!” Hilda said cheerfully, a little out of breath. “What’s going on?”

“Hilda, where have you been? I was looking all over for you!”

“I was in my room, obviously” Hilda said, feigning innocence.

“You were _not_ ,” Johanna said. Hilda felt a pang of guilt as she heard the anger creeping into her mother’s voice. “I was just _in_ your room.”

“Maybe you didn’t look very carefully,” Hilda said evasively, looking away. Before Johanna could reply, a voice came from down the hall.

“Jo, I’m turning in.”

Hilda looked down the hall instinctively, even though she knew the owner of the voice. She still wasn’t used to seeing the librarian in her home.

“Oh - I’ll be there in a sec,” Johanna replied. Hilda noticed that the anger had gone from her mother’s voice almost immediately.

The librarian nodded. She caught sight of Hilda as she pushed open the bedroom door. “Goodnight, Hilda.”

“Night, Maven,” Hilda murmured awkwardly.

Johanna turned back to Hilda, who was relieved to see that some of her mother’s anger had dissipated.She heard the click of a door closing down the hall and took that as her cue to go back to her room as well. Johanna followed her in and sat down tentatively on the bed.

“I’m sorry I got angry,” she said quietly. “I was just worried when I couldn’t find you.”

“I know.” Hilda trudged over to the bed and sat down next to her, uncomfortably aware that they were sitting above an entrance to Tontu’s space. She wondered if he could hear them from down there. Before she could voice this concern, her mother spoke.

“Were you hiding?”

“Of course not,” Hilda said. “I was…” she decided it couldn’t hurt to tell the truth this time. “I was visiting Tontu.”

Her mother nodded. “Did he invite you down there?”

“No…” Hilda hazarded. “I just felt like seeing him?”

Johanna sighed. “I don’t mind you spending time with Tontu,” she said. “But he can come up here if he wants to see you – and at least then I know where you are. Would that be okay?”

Hilda couldn’t think of what else to say. “I suppose so,” she huffed.

“Thank you.”

Hilda nodded silently, trying to think of somewhere else she could go now that the nowhere-space was out-of-bounds. Maybe Johanna could tell, because instead of getting up, she turned to look at her.

“Hilda, this doesn’t have anything to do with Maven…does it?”

Hilda stared at the wall awkwardly. She _really_ hoped Tontu wasn’t listening now.

“…No?” she tried.

“It’s just that you hardly ever went to the nowhere-space before she moved in,” Johanna continued. “You’re always disappearing when she comes home – coming up with excuses – ”

Hilda slowly drew up her knees and hugged them as she listened. She didn’t like to think that she’d been so obvious.

“It feels like we hardly ever see you – ”

“We?” Hilda’s voice came out muffled as she rested her head on her knees. “Why does _she_ care?”

“Hilda,” Johanna said sadly. “Maven’s part of the family now – ”

“But she’s only here because of you!”

The words came out harsher than she had meant, and Hilda regretted them immediately. She glanced at her mother, but she had turned away. Silence hung in the air, giving Hilda time to wonder just how grounded she was. Finally Johanna spoke.

“I thought you liked her. Or, that you would, anyway…”

Hilda said nothing. She felt awful, not to mention annoyed - why should she feel bad when none of this was her fault?

“You said nothing was going to change,” she murmured, although she knew that wasn’t an answer.

Johanna looked back at her. Hilda noticed with a jolt of guilt that her eyes were wet. “I know,” she said. There was another pause. Then, “Just…give her a chance Hilda, please. If after a while, you – feel the same way – then maybe – ”

“Yes?” Hilda asked.

“I’ll…I’ll figure something out,” Johanna said. She stood up, which Hilda took to mean that the conversation was over, and put her arms around her for a moment.

“Try to get some sleep,” Johanna said, and she left.

Hilda watched as her door closed, then lay down in the semi-darkness, wondering why getting her way had made her feel so much worse.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> way after i'd drafted most of this fic, i realised that for a fic that's basically about maven/johanna, there isn't a whole lot of ship content, so i just had to go and fix that

Maven was sat up in bed reading when Johanna came in. She looked up in surprise as her partner sat down on the end of the bed and stayed there for a moment, staring off into space. Maven raised an eyebrow, amused.

“Are…you going to get _in_ the bed, or?”

Johanna turned to look at her, and Maven saw in her face that she had seriously misjudged the situation. “What’s wrong?” She hastily put the book aside and shifted herself closer. Johanna sighed.

“Nothing,” she said instinctively, running a hand through her hair. “I don’t know.”

Maven put an arm out and pulled Jo into an embrace, leaning her head against hers. “It’s Hilda, isn’t it?”

Jo nodded and Maven’s heart sank. She’d suspected that something was amiss for weeks, but had been carrying on as usual in vain hope of things resolving on their own – and in trying to avoid the conversation she feared they were about to have.

“So,” she said, trying not to sound too afraid of the answer. “What’s left for me to do? To make this better.”

Jo didn’t reply, which gave Maven a good idea of what that was. She was pretty sure it involved her taking her old apartment off the market.

“I really, really don’t want it to come to that,” Johanna said, who appeared to have been thinking the same thing. “But you know I can’t ignore that Hilda’s unhappy. It wouldn’t be fair to carry on like this, for anyone.”

Maven nodded, trying to think. She knew that Hilda had only stopped being so friendly to her after she had moved in, so maybe there were alternatives. She and Jo could always go back to the previous arrangement, separate living-spaces, phone calls, date nights. All of which had been nice at the time, but didn’t sound as good now that the two of them had decided to live together. But Maven let the thought unravel regardless; maybe, though the situation wasn’t ideal, they could keep it up for a few years, until Hilda was older and not so upset by change.

But how long would things take to fall into place exactly? A couple years? Five? More? Wouldn’t either she or Jo get tired of waiting, wouldn’t it be frustrating to stay apart with the slim hope that they could be a real family in a few years? Maven could imagine the disagreements, the ongoing strain on their relationship and all the regrets that might build up over time. Before long she could see herself eventually resenting Hilda for getting in the way in the first place.

Maven shook her head roughly, horrified by the thought. She knew she couldn’t blame a kid for feeling like things were changing too fast. And in spite of Hilda’s strange behaviour toward her now, she still liked her. She had actually been kind of excited to learn that Johanna’s kid was the same one who had come to her before, looking for help with finding marra and raising the dead. Maven had thought that, if anything, it would be easier to get Hilda to like her, not near-impossible.

But clearly things hadn’t gone according to plan.

Maven looked back to Jo, realising she hadn’t given her an answer. “Well, you’re right,” she said reluctantly. She cast around for something, anything she could suggest to make the situation less depressing. “Maybe we just need more bonding-time?” she tried. “Me and Hilda haven’t spoken one-on-one that much since I moved in, maybe that’s where I went wrong.”

Johanna nodded. “It could be.”

“Soo I’ll just spend more time with her,” Maven said, trying to be optimistic. “Go on an adventure, or something. She’ll like me in no time.”

Johanna didn’t look too convinced, but to Maven’s relief she seemed to cheer up a little at the thought.

“I guess its a plan...Let's just hope it works." Johanna smiled, trying to make light of the situation. “I really don’t want to kick you out if I can avoid it.”

“Hm,” Maven smirked. “It’s cute that you think it’ll be that easy to get rid of me.”

“Oh?”

“You forget that I’m a full-fledged witch, you don’t want to mess with one of those,” Maven said matter-of-factly. “Actually, maybe I’ll teach Hilda some more spells…”

“Don’t you _dare_!” Johanna gave Maven a shove and she fell back onto the bed, laughing.

“Look how well that turned out last time!” Johanna said, sounding scandalised, but she couldn’t keep the amusement out of her voice. She lowered herself down next to Maven, who was still smiling at the thought.

“It worked out in the end though, didn’t it?” Maven said, recalling how she’d gone running to Johanna after seeing a spell go off on the beach one night. “Worth nearly losing your soul, don’t you think?”

Johanna gave her another indignant push. “I suppose so,” she admitted. “More or less.”

The witch flashed another grin and shifted in closer to her. “Hey.” She found one of Johanna’s hands and held it between her own. “We’ll figure this out, okay? Otherwise Hilda nearly accidentally stole your soul for nothing.”

Johanna stifled a laugh, which brought Maven a little peace of mind. If she could still make Jo happy at times like this, clearly she was doing something right.

“Yeah…” Johanna still didn’t sound convinced, but she gave a quick smile nonetheless. “I hope so.”


	3. Chapter 3

Hilda woke up to something soft pressing against her face.

“Ngh…Twig?”

Without thinking, she put out an arm to pat it, and withdrew immediately. Something about it felt…wrong. She opened her eyes and was met with a green, wide-eyed stare.

“Aaaaah!” Hilda screamed, pushing herself back in the bed. The creature kept staring, impassive. The two watched each-other in silence as Hilda caught her breath.

“Oh,” Hilda said, her heart still beating violently from the shock. “It’s just you.”

Maven’s owlcat chirped in assent and hopped forward on its two legs, pushing its face into her arm. Hilda reached out to pat it in spite of herself. She wasn’t sure if the affection was an apology for scaring her or what Freyja had come for in the first place, but she appreciated it nonetheless.

The door to Hilda’s room burst open and Freyja took off in a cloud of black feathers. Hilda just caught sight of two startled green eyes and a mass of black darting upward before it took off through the open door, almost crashing into Hilda’s mother as it went.

Johanna jumped back from the doorway in shock. “What the – ”

Hilda watched the owlcat as it raced away. “I think the door startled her,” she said, shrugging. She tried to hide her reproach at Freyja flying off so quickly.

“Ah.” Johanna looked over her shoulder at Freyja, who was now clinging upside-down to a ceiling light down the hall, and shook her head. “I’m never going to get used to that. Anyway, are you alright? I heard a scream.”

“Oh, yeah.” Hilda absent-mindedly flicked a stray feather off her bed. “Freyja just surprised me.” She shifted uncomfortably, remembering the tense conversation last night. “Where’s Twig?”

“He’s asleep in the kitchen.”

“I’ll go see him then.”

***

A few minutes later Hilda strolled into the kitchen and looked around. Her mother was leaning against the kitchen counter while Maven poured coffee. It was a moment before she registered that they were laughing about something. Hilda ignored it and caught sight of Twig, who was dozing on top of a pile of laundry. To her delight, his ears shot up as she approached and he bounded over to her, whining in greeting.

“Good morning, boy!” Hilda playfully ruffled the deerfox’s ears. “What are we going to do today? Should we go see David and Frida?”

“Actually Hilda, I’m going to be out most of today for a client meeting,” Johanna cut in. “So I was thinking you could go out and spend the day with Maven?"

“Er…all day?” Hilda asked, still looking at Twig.

“The studio we’re meeting at is on the other side of the city, so yes, most of it,” Johanna replied indifferently. “Anyway, it’s a huge opportunity – normally I wouldn’t be able to make it, but now Maven can keep you company while I’m gone.” She gave Hilda a meaningful look.

“Oh, um, yeah! Sure,” Hilda said. She caught Maven’s eye and forced some excitement into her voice. “ I’m sure that’ll be fun.”

“Wonderful,” Johanna said. She glanced at her watch and gave a start. “I’d better get going,” she said, hastily putting her cup down. Hilda turned around to say goodbye, but her mother had already rushed over to Maven first. A moment later she pulled Hilda into a hug. “I hope you have fun today!”

Hilda returned the hug, less than enthusiastic. She watched her mother go, thinking of all the adventures she could’ve had today.

“You and me both,” she murmured.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To the people who are reading this fic, sorry for taking so long to update! I have most of this story drafted out but some parts are giving me trouble so I've had to slow down with posting. And thanks for reading, I already have more readers than I expected for this random lil fic :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if anyone thought this fic was never gonna finish, I don't blame them one bit. so here's two chapters at once to make up for how long it took

“So, what are we going to do?” Hilda asked, stepping outside.

Maven stepped out behind her and shut the door. “Oh, I’m not picky,” she said kindly. “What do you normally do when your mum isn’t around?”

Though a lot of things sprung to mind, Hilda didn’t feel like it would be a good idea to tell Maven any of them. “Er, you know,” she hazarded. “Just…exploring with Twig mostly.”

“Really?” Maven asked. “That wasn’t the impression I got at all.”

“Well,” Hilda said, trying to drive the conversation away from her adventures, “sometimes me and my friends go to the park, or we try to get Sparrow Scout badges – ”

“Yes, Johanna told me how much fun she used to have getting those,” Maven said. “Maybe I could help with one?”

“Uhm…” Hilda stalled, trying to think. She had a few ideas about things she could do today, but she had a feeling Maven wouldn’t approve of them, not _now_ anyway. She was still trying to think of some way to avoid the topic when her eyes fell on the adjoining street, and someone caught her eye.

“Frida!” Hilda yelled. Across the street, Frida gave a start and looked round, then made her way over. She caught Maven's eye and smiled politely.

Hilda looked between Frida and Maven, an idea forming in her mind. The conversation from last night was still weighing on her, and she desperately wanted something to take her mind off things. Maybe she could do that and spend enough time with Maven to stop her mum from getting upset; just not at the same time.

Hilda took a step down the street.

“Um, you know, I forgot that there was this thing I promised to show Frida today,” she said. Frida shot her a bewildered look but thankfully didn’t say anything. “Maybe I could find you again later?”

“Oh…” Maven hesitated. “Perhaps it would be better if I – ”

“It’ll just take a second,” Hilda insisted, already taking another step away. “We’ll be right back, okay? And we won’t do anything dangerous!” With that, she grabbed Frida’s hand and took off down the street.

Maven watched them go, thinking it rather looked like Frida was questioning what exactly she was being roped into. Well, that made two of them. Anything relating to child-supervision was well out of Maven’s area of expertise, and things weren’t really going to plan. The librarian stood still for a minute, fiddling with the hem of her cloak and trying to think. She had been trying to avoid thinking about it, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was a lot riding on today. Hilda running off at the first opportunity wasn’t exactly a good omen.

All of a sudden there was a scuffle somewhere above, and something shot out of the window of the flat behind her, hissing angrily. Maven took a step back in surprise as Freyja swooped down and landed clumsily on her shoulder, chirping indignantly. Before Maven could react, the owlcat looked pointedly back to the flat. Maven followed her gaze to what she realised was a living room window that she had forgotten to close. She could just make out the swish of a white tail moving out of view. Next to her ear, Freyja chirped again, upset.

Maven could only assume that Freyja had taken one of Twig’s favourite sleeping spots, or tried a little too hard to get the deerfox to play with her. Whatever had happened, Freyja had come a bit too close for comfort, and Twig had pushed her out. Maven turned back to the street Hilda had disappeared from, running her hand through Freyja’s spiked up feathers, and sighed. She knew exactly how she felt.

***

“So, remind me why we’re sneaking around Trolberg?”

“So we can have an adventure, obviously,” Hilda replied, looking back at Frida to make sure she was keeping up.

“You’re expecting to find adventure at the harbour?”

Hilda shrugged. “It’s there. And it’s where we found the Rat King.” Out of the corner of her eye she saw Frida’s eyes widen. “Not that we’re going in the sewers again,” she said hastily.

As Hilda turned around, something at the edge of the harbour caught her eye – a wide crevice set into one of the rock faces that lead up from the beach to the city. She ran over to it excitedly. “What about this?”

Frida peered into the tunnel, unconvinced. “Are you sure about this, Hilda?” she said.

“It’ll be fine,” Hilda replied, climbing into the rock and looking around. “Come on, who knows what we’ll find in here?”

“That’s kind of what I’m afraid of,” Frida murmured, climbing in after her.

The further they walked, the more the tunnel seemed to stretch on. Before long, the sound of the tide had been drowned out by the walls, and the silence was broken only by footsteps on the stone. Hilda looked around eagerly, taking it all in. The walls were rough and studded with stalactites, which had been worn smooth by the tide. The ceiling was too high to reach; whatever had made the tunnel must have been big. It was strangely comforting to Hilda – even the sounds of the city’s cars and trains were completely gone. She looked back and saw Frida following at a reluctant pace, glancing back at the distant entrance every few steps.

“It’s okay you know, Frida,” she said encouragingly. “We’ve done way more scary stuff than this.”

Frida smiled weakly. “It is pretty interesting,” she admitted. “Is this why we had to run off earlier?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, clearly you didn’t want your mum’s girlfriend coming with us,” Frida said, stopping Hilda in her tracks. “Did you think she wouldn’t let us go?”

“Well…yes, pretty much,” Hilda said, noting the scepticism in her friend’s voice. “She would’ve just - ” Hilda jumped over pile of fallen rock, “ - got worried like mum always does.”

“Okay…but, counterpoint – we _know_ her already,” Frida said, climbing around a stalagmite. “She’s helped us. To be honest, I thought it must be kind of cool to have someone like her as a -”

“She’s _not_ my mum,” Hilda said harshly.

“…I was _going_ to say as a part of your family,” Frida said icily.

Hilda turned away, embarrassed. She hadn’t meant to snap. “Yeah, well,” she said. “She’s not that either.” She took another step forward, feeling worse by the minute. This was exactly the sort of thing she’d been trying to avoid.

They carried on in silence for some time. Hilda was starting to notice that the daylight streaming into the tunnel from outside was receding with every new step, and the tunnel just kept on going, getting darker and darker. It intrigued her, but doubts were beginning to form in the back of her mind.

“Hilda, look.”

Frida’s voice jolted Hilda out of her thoughts and she looked around before seeing what Frida was pointing to: a small crater filled with what looked like stones.

She hurried to the edge and stared for a moment before picking one up. It was the size of a football, but no where near as heavy as it looked, and its surface was smooth and blue. “Woah.”

“What do you think they are?” Frida asked, kneeling by the crater and peering in.

“No idea,” Hilda replied, squinting at it in the near-darkness.

Frida looked at the crater and then back to her. “It looks like someone’s collecting them, doesn’t i– Hilda!”

The air around Hilda grew cold as a shadow passed over her. Hilda whirled around just in time to see a creature big enough to reach the ceiling towering over her, blocking off the remaining light; something blue, with a long body and fins. Hilda stared in awe, trying to piece it together. Before she could make out what it was, however, Frida had grabbed her arm and was pulling her away as fast as she could. Hilda dropped the stone and ran, hearing the creature drop to all fours and roar. Frida pulled her behind a rock and she crouched down, her heart pounding. It was so dark now that she couldn’t even see her hand in front of her face. Maybe, if they were lucky, that meant the creature couldn’t see much either.

“What - ” Hilda gasped, “is – that?”

“I think, it’s a Salt Lion,” Frida’s voice, barely more than a whisper, came out of the darkness beside her. “But I’ve read about them, and they’re usually not dangerous except when – ” She gasped and Hilda felt a hand on her arm. “Hilda, those were its _eggs_. It probably thinks we’re stealing them!”

“Oh.” Hilda’s stomach dropped. She could hear the salt lion’s growl as it came nearer and pressed herself flat against the rock. Normally she would’ve found this all kind of exciting, but something told her this wasn’t standard adventure material. “Maybe we can explain what happened and it won’t be angry?”

“I’m not sure salt lions _do_ explanations, Hilda,” Frida said. Hilda’s eyes were starting to adapt to the darkness and she could just about see the fear etched onto her friend’s face.

Hilda realised with a jolt of panic that the creature’s growling hadn’t subsided, if anything, it was closer than ever – it was either still looking for them, or waiting for them to come out. Hilda thought quickly.

“We have to run,” she whispered. Frida looked at her as though she had suggested running straight into the creature’s jaws. “Please,” Hilda said, “we can’t just wait til it finds us.” Frida was silent for a moment, then – “Okay”.

Hilda got to her feet, took Frida’s hand and ran. As soon as they were out from behind the rock, a sharp hiss came from behind them, followed by the thunder of paws on stone. Hilda and Frida kept running deeper into the tunnel. Hilda was scanning the walls for something, anything, that could be another way out.

A wall jumped out of the darkness and they both ground to a halt. Behind them the salt lion was still approaching, its face twisted in rage. So the tunnel did have an end, Hilda thought as she ran full-force into it. It would’ve been a nice discovery at absolutely any time other than this. She glanced over at Frida and saw that she was looking at her with desperation. _If you have a plan, use it now._ Hilda didn’t have a plan. She could hardly even hear herself think over the pounding of her own heart. She looked back at the salt lion, barely registering that something else had emerged from the tunnel behind it - not that it would help, anyway. If she hadn’t touched that stupid egg – if she hadn’t run off in the first place –

No sooner had she thought it than there was a shout – in what language, Hilda couldn’t tell – and a bright purple light shot through the tunnel, almost blinding them. The salt lion turned around wildly, its eyes shut, arching its back and snapping. Hilda stared at the light for a moment before shielding her eyes. Something about it seemed – familiar. When she opened her eyes again, the light was gone and someone was standing in front of her and Frida, surrounded by a faint glow. The salt lion shook its head and got up once more, but as it charged forward the stranger lifted their hands and it halted before them as though repelled by magnetic force. Hilda watched in awe. The salt lion reared and hissed, but it couldn’t come any closer. Hilda was just starting to catch her breath when the salt lion pounced forward and the figure staggered back, turning her head to the side.

“Maven?”

Across from her, Hilda saw Frida’s jaw drop. Hilda couldn’t blame her; she had suspected that Maven knew more about magic than she let on, but nothing like this. She stared, speechless, at Maven and the incensed salt lion, which was still held back by whatever protective spell Maven had conjured. Maven stumbled back and Hilda’s awe was quickly replaced by anxiety as she saw that Maven looked just as angry. Hilda swallowed hard. If it came down to Maven and the salt lion, she wasn’t completely sure who’s wrath she would rather face.

Another roar brought her swiftly back to the current concern. The salt lion leapt forward and Hilda saw Maven dig her heels into the ground in an effort to keep it from breaking through. Maven turned around and looked at Hilda, making her yelp in surprise. Maven’s eyes were a pupil-less, glowing stare.

“GO.”

Hilda didn’t need telling twice. She reached out, grabbed Frida’s arm and took off back down the tunnel, thinking of nothing but putting as much distance behind them as possible. Behind them, the salt lion roared, but it didn’t follow.

Before long Hilda couldn’t help but look back as they ran. “Do you think she’ll be alright?”

“ _We_ won’t be alright if that thing catches up,” Frida said. “Look, we’re almost out!”

Hilda ground to a halt. “Shouldn’t we help, though?” Frida overtook her and pulled on her arm frantically. “She knows what she’s doing Hilda, we need to go!”

“But…” Hilda looked back the way they had come, watching the distant flicker of purple light. She couldn’t quite put it into words, but she didn’t feel like she could take one step further. She watched the light with growing concern. Could Maven really handle a creature like that all by herself? Hadn’t she been having trouble already, right when they’d run away? Hilda didn’t know what to do. There was no one else she could run to for help, and nothing she could do herself. She turned back to Frida and something on the ground caught her eye. She quickly recognised it as the flashlight Frida had dropped during the chase. She walked over and picked it up, piecing together an idea.

“You go, Frida. I’ll be right behind you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me: i love the librarian and she's a big part of this fic  
> also me: gets rid of her for almost an entire chapter


	5. Chapter 5

It didn’t take long to find Maven again. She was closer to the entrance than Hilda had expected. She found Maven as she was doing something with light – creating little sparks that lit up the tunnel, making the salt lion slow down and veer away; it wouldn’t look directly at them. Hilda looked down at the flashlight in her hands, feeling a little more confident. Maybe this would work after all.

Maven caught sight of her and almost did a double-take.

_“What are you doing?”_

That wasn't the response Hilda had been expecting. “I'm helping!” She shouted back.

“No. You’re going, now!”

Hilda ignored her. As the salt lion got closer, she ran forward and turned on the flashlight, aiming it straight into the creature’s eyes.

It worked just as she had hoped. The salt lion recoiled violently, thrashing around and shutting its eyes, leaving them some time. Hilda would’ve felt pretty pleased with herself, if it weren’t for what it did next. The salt lion charged forward, past her and Maven, and into the wall. The entire cavern shook and the flashlight jumped out of Hilda’s hands as she stumbled. A stalactite broke away from the ceiling and plummeted, shattering on a barrier Maven conjured just in time. For a moment Hilda met her eyes and the witch seemed just as scared as she was. In front of them, the salt lion was still thrashing around.

Hilda was just turning away to make another run for it when she heard an ear-splitting crash. She turned around just in time to see the salt lion jump back from another stalactite, which was beginning to crumble.

Maven looked around frantically and her gaze fell to the flashlight on the ground, which was pointing off into another tunnel. Hilda hadn’t even registered it as she’d come in, but between the flashlight and the magic glow pouring off Maven, it was easy to make out a gap in the rock. Without a word they both bolted in, just as another row of stalactites fell and shattered behind them.

***

It took a moment for Hilda’s eyes to adjust to the dark again; whatever Maven had done to take on the salt lion, it wasn’t lasting, and the aura of magic around her was fading to a faint glow. Still, it didn’t take much to figure out what she was looking at.

She stood still, taking in the wall of rubble where the opening had been and fighting off panic.

Maven was standing a few feet away, shaking a little and leaning on a rock for support. Her eyes had gone back to normal, to Hilda’s relief, but it seemed to have taken a lot out of her. Hilda had been hoping that she would be more optimistic about the situation, but she was staring up at the rubble with an almost unreadable expression.

The silence stretched on for what felt like hours, before she spoke.

“I’m so glad Johanna isn’t here to see this.”

The comment seemed strange to Hilda. Looking around at the tunnel they were stuck in, leading off to who-knows-where, with the only known exit blocked, she felt that they needed all the help they could get.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me?? updating this fic after 6 months?? it's likely. I'm sorry for making y'all wait  
> tbh I'm not...the happiest with the writing here? just, interesting stuff happens later, I promise :') anyway, here's two more chapters! bc apparently this is just how I roll now

It just wasn’t fair, Hilda thought. For the second time in two days things were going horribly wrong, and it was still somehow her fault.

She watched the librarian cautiously, trying to get an idea of how much trouble she was in. Without the impending threat of the salt lion to focus on, it was hard to ignore that the situation they were now in was entirely her doing.

Maven seemed to be thinking the same thing. Hilda gave a start as she turned to her abruptly. “Why did you come back?”

Hilda was a little hurt by the tone of accusation in her voice. “I was trying to help - ”

“You were supposed to stay _safe_ ,” Maven said exasperatedly. “What use is it, me being here if - ”she put her face in her hands and sighed in frustration.

“I couldn’t just _leave_ ,” Hilda argued, but the librarian had already turned away, surveying the space where the entrance had been with growing concern.

“That didn’t stop you before,” she muttered to herself. She took a deep breath and looked around, peering into the dark expanse behind them. When she turned back to Hilda, her expression was cold.

“Let’s get going,” She turned swiftly and began walking away. Hilda just had time to snatch up the flashlight from the ground before breaking into a run, not wanting to lose sight of her in the darkness.

***

The minutes passed in silence as they walked. Hilda kept her mouth shut, hoping that Maven would break the silence first, but she was walking ahead at a brisk pace and didn’t seem interested in conversation. All Hilda could do was try to keep up as she strode further into the tunnel, seemingly unconcerned with where it might lead. It wasn’t long before Hilda couldn’t stand it anymore.

“Am I…grounded?” she asked tentatively.

Maven didn’t look around, but Hilda could see her shake her head. “I don’t know,” She said, still looking ahead. She didn’t sound angry per se, but her voice was flat, as if she were trying hard to keep any emotion out. That in itself was far from reassuring. “Luckily for you, me and Jo haven’t talked about exactly what kind of parental role I have, so I don’t actually know.”

Hilda took that to mean that her mum would be hearing about this. Seeing how upset Maven was, she was starting to think that was something she could worry about later.

She watched Maven stride ahead, her heart sinking. She'd never seen her actually distressed - she hadn't entirely thought it _possible_. Hilda cast around for something to lighten the situation, but it was becoming clear that there wasn’t much to be optimistic about - bar running into the salt lion again, things could hardly get any worse. Knowing she was mostly to blame didn’t make her feel any better about it.

Hilda pushed herself to speak.

“I’m…I’m really sorry,” she said, her voice coming out as barely more than a whisper. For a moment she wondered if Maven would hear her, or if she’d bother to respond, even if she did.

Maven finally slowed down enough for Hilda to catch up to her. To her surprise, she didn’t look as angry as she had expected - she didn’t look angry at all. The longer Hilda looked at her, the more anxious she seemed. Beyond that, she just looked…tired. Maybe even scared.

Maven drew in a breath, as if trying to steel herself. “I know,” she said, her voice sounding hollow. After a moment she turned to face Hilda, looking apologetic. “I shouldn’t have gotten angry…and I can’t blame you for coming back, even if that wasn’t a smart thing to do.”

Hilda was a little stung, but had to admit the librarian had a point. She realised that the glow around her had gone completely, now. Judging by the way Maven looked, like it was a challenge to stay standing, it seemed to have taken something of hers with it. She said nothing as Maven walked to a boulder at the edge of the tunnel and dropped down onto it, putting her head in her hands.

“This is...kind of a big deal for me, Hilda,” she said quietly. “When someone you love trusts you to watch over their child – especially a child who has a _talent_ for getting into life-threatening situations – it means a lot. And you nearly got hurt on my watch - and I almost wasn’t even there to stop it.”

Hearing Maven’s words, Hilda felt a jab of guilt. “…Sorry about that," she said quietly.

Maven gave a shrug in reply. “Don’t worry about it too much,” she said wearily, looking at the floor. “It’s kind of my fault, anyway.”

Hilda looked at her, taken aback.

“Maybe I’m not cut out for this after all,” Maven said. “Maybe that’s what I’m supposed to take away from… _this_. I don’t even know what Jo’s going to think.” She ran a hand through her two-toned hair and sighed. “Clearly this isn’t working. You’re not happy. And I know Jo’s losing sleep over it. So – I don’t know,” she finished dejectedly. “I really don’t know anymore.”

Hilda listened in silence, feeling gradually worse by the minute. It was pretty clear to her where Maven was going with this, but it was only making her feel _worse_. She was starting to think she’d prefer it if Maven carried on being angry with her instead. Whatever she had wanted before, it certainly wasn’t this.

Without entirely knowing what she was hoping to achieve, she walked over to where Maven was sitting, settling herself on the ground nearby and taking a breath.

“So…I guess we _both_ don’t want to tell Mum about this?” She tried.

For a moment Maven lifted her head and stared at her, making Hilda wonder if she'd made things even worse. At least, until she noticed the corner of her mouth twitch upward.

“Yes,” Maven admitted. “I _very_ do not want to have to tell Johanna about this. Do you have any idea how bad this is going to sound?”

“Oh, I don't know," Hilda reasoned, squinting at the seemingly endless path ahead of them. "...It could probably be worse."

Maven gave her a look of disbelief. “Alright then,” she said wryly. “If we ever get out of here, maybe I’ll make _you_ tell her what happened.”

“Well that's easy,” Hilda said lightly, relieved to see that she had cheered up a little. “I could just say we…went exploring, in some tunnels under the city - ”

Maven raised an eyebrow. “I’m not sure _that_ sounds like a safe activity - ”

“ – and it was completely fine,” Hilda said. “No salt lions - ”

“Or cave-ins?” Maven added, a faint smile on her face. “And we definitely didn’t get _lost_ , or anything.”

“See? Not traumatic in the slightest,” Hilda asserted. Maven chuckled faintly and looked up, catching Hilda’s eye. She still looked exhausted, but Hilda could’ve sworn there was warmth in her gaze, before she looked back to the tunnel.

“Come on,” she said, getting to her feet and smoothing out her skirt. “We should get going, or we really will be stuck here forever.”

"Good point," Hilda said, quickly being brought back to the problem at hand. She got to her feet and started to follow, noting with some relief that Maven seemed to have recovered from before. That, or she was doing a better job at hiding how drained she was. Hilda glanced at her cautiously.

“Thanks for…what you did back there, by the way," she said slowly. “...That was pretty cool.”

Maven looked at her and smiled.

“You weren't so bad yourself, Hildie.”

In spite of everything, Hilda felt her spirits lift slightly. There was certainly no avoiding it now, but even so - it was starting to look as if being stuck with Maven wouldn’t be as terrible as she had thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so I have to say here, I was kinda absolutely thrilled when the season 2 intro and trailer came out bc 1) there are salt lions!! and 2) they're Angry. My characterisation of them was kinda right!! and honestly that's probably as close to canon as this fic is gonna get  
> (and then that hilda panel revealed some info that kinda destroyed the basis of a sketchbook fic I'd been writing so. you win some, you lose some, I guess :') )  
> also, just a heads up, the next chapter is...long. I can't do consistent chapter lengths to save my life


	7. Chapter 7

After everything that had occurred earlier, Hilda was almost surprised by how quiet it now was. The tunnel they'd found was completely silent, save for the distant roar of the tide and their own footsteps thudding on stone. It was slightly unnerving, but it was assuring to know that if any more creatures showed up, she and Maven would hear them coming. As far as she could tell, Maven was preoccupied looking ahead for a way out, keeping any thoughts she had on the situation to herself, which suited Hilda fine. Maven didn’t seem particularly upset with her anymore, but it didn’t stop her from glancing at the librarian every now and again, and wondering how much trouble she would be in when getting out of here was no longer a main concern.

Hilda absent-mindedly scanned the flashlight around the tunnel, searching for something that might point to an exit, and paused as she noticed Maven eyeing it warily. “What?” she asked.

“Just...Be careful if we run into any more of those creatures,” Maven said, giving her an anxious look. “We don’t want to cause any more cave-ins.”

“I didn’t mean for that to happen,” Hilda said, a touch defensively. “I just wanted to make it stop chasing us.”

Maven didn’t reply, keeping her eyes focused on the darkness ahead of them. A small part of her wanted to stay upset that Hilda had ignored her in deciding to come back, but she just didn’t have it in her. Truthfully, she was more impressed by the courage it must have taken. It was kind of touching, in a that-was-a-terrible-idea kind of way.

Remembering what had transpired with the salt lion, she looked at Hilda curiously. “How did you know to do that, anyway? With the flashlight?"

Hilda glanced at her and shrugged. “It’s just like the spells you did earlier, isn’t it? I figured there must be a reason you were using all that light. They don't like it much, do they?”

“Oh...” the librarian turned back to the tunnel, looking thoughtful. “That was clever.”

Hilda felt a tiny spark of pride.

“So,” she kicked a pebble in front of her, watching it tumble ahead of them as they walked. “How did you know we were down here, anyway?”

“Oh. Well, I got a bit worried when I couldn’t find you anywhere,” Maven said, still looking ahead. “And I thought you might’ve gotten into some kind of trouble – and I was right, of course.”

Hilda looked at the floor and kicked the stone again.

“So when I couldn’t find you, I got Freyja to check underground - ”

Hilda stared at her, scarcely bothering to hide her interest.

“Underground? She can _do_ that?”

“Echolocation,” Maven explained. “Her eyesight isn’t great, but she more than makes up for it. She’s probably waiting for us outside right now.”

“Right…” Hilda lifted up her flashlight and looked around at the barren walls. “How are we going to… _get_ outside?”

Maven gestured vaguely to the tunnel ahead. “I don’t know a lot about Salt Lions, but every tunnel leads somewhere. Hopefully we can find one that will lead out.”

It was hard to miss the uncertainty in Maven’s voice, and Hilda’s heart sank a bit. She had been counting on a plan that was a bit more clear than ‘hopefully’.

“…What if there isn’t one?” Hilda asked about as casually as she could manage. “What if it just keeps going deeper, or it’s blocked off, or - ”

She looked ahead, raising the flashlight, and instinctively came to a halt. A few metres ahead, the path opened up into a cavern, the rough stone floor scattered with rocks and stalagmites. Hilda glanced at Maven, who had also stopped dead, and raised the flashlight, squinting in the darkness. Failing to find any more salt lions, she let herself relax a little and crept forward. All over the walls, close to the floor, there were gaps in the stone that looked like openings to other tunnels – a lot more of them than she had thought.

Hilda peered around the cavern, which was so vast she couldn’t see the to end of it, and felt all enthusiasm drain out of her. “...Or that,” she said tentatively.

Maven followed her gaze, taking in the dark expanse before putting her head in her hand and groaning.

“This is going to be impossible,” she said frustratedly. “There must be dozens of other paths down here.”

“It’s possible some of them lead back up,” Hilda said hopefully.

“It’s also possible that they’re full of salt lions,” Maven said with a sigh of resignation. “Let’s keep looking.”

Hilda nodded and kept moving, her intrigue starting to get the better of her. It was hard to believe that she’d been content to spend her time at parks and on street corners when, right under the city, there was all _this_. Hilda looked around at the cavern with growing awe. Of course one of the most interesting parts of Trolberg was hidden underground.

“How are we going to know which way is out, anyway?” she asked.

“We...head upwards and find daylight,” Maven replied, from somewhere on the other side of the cavern.

“Huh.” Hilda approached an opening in the wall, and seeing it was surrounded by claw-marks, decided to give it a miss. “So, what are we going to do when it gets dark, then?”

For a second Maven didn’t respond. “...We have time. It’s best not to worry about it.”

“…Right,” Hilda answered, willing herself to focus less on exploring and more on the task at hand. It was the kind of place she would’ve loved to look around properly, just not on a time limit.

Looking around, all of the other paths appeared to lead down, further into the ground, and several of them were partially obstructed by cave-ins. Whether any of the intact ones were free of salt lions, Hilda wasn’t too keen to investigate. She was starting to think the entire exercise hopeless, when her eye fell on a gap set higher into the wall, and she ran over to it.

“Maven!” she called, keeping her voice as quiet as she could manage. She stopped a few feet away from the wall and directed her light up into the gap, some ten or fifteen feet above her, her heart soaring as it illuminated a path heading upwards.

She looked over her shoulder at Maven, who, to her dismay, didn’t look convinced.

“It’s a nice idea, Hilda, but I don’t think either of us is going to be able to reach that…”

“I bet I could make it,” Hilda said, unperturbed. “I do this sort of stuff all the time! I could climb up there and find out where it goes - I could get help, too.”

She watched as Maven stopped below the opening and surveyed it silently, considering.

“No.”

“Why not?” Hilda frowned, less than thrilled at her idea being shot down so quickly. “I’ll come back,” she added.

Maven shook her head. “That’s not what I’m worried about,” she said, turning to her with an anxious expression. It was a minute before it dawned on Hilda that it wasn’t herself Maven was concerned for.

“I’ll be careful,” Hilda insisted, but Maven had already turned her attention to another part of the cave.

“We can find another way,” she said, impassive. “There are other tunnels -”

“But you don’t want to try any of them!” Hilda persisted, gesturing to the one she had just turned down. “This is going to take forever. At least that one leads up, that _has_ to be a good thing.”

“I won’t risk it,” Maven said firmly. “We’ll find another way out.”

She turned away and walked deeper into the cavern. Hilda scowled and opened her mouth to object, before deciding to let the matter rest and following her away. She gasped and looked up as a thought struck her.

“Wait, you know magic!” Hilda said hopefully. “Can’t you just, teleport out or something?”

Her elation vanished as Maven looked at her and shook her head. “It isn’t that simple, I’m afraid. Even if I wanted to try, I don’t have the energy to spare.”

Hilda gave her a quizzical look.

“Ah, I...already gave up quite a lot, with what happened earlier. With most kinds of magic you have to give something to get something,” Maven explained. “You can’t just – cast a spell and get exactly what you want, no worse off – although,” She smiled faintly and gave Hilda a knowing look. “I think you already knew that.”

Hilda stopped dead as Maven's words hit her. “...You know about - ”

“Oh, I already know about the tide mouse,” Maven said, causing Hilda to stare at her incredulously. “What?” she lifted an eyebrow in amusement. “You thought you could put my girlfriend’s soul in mortal danger without me knowing about it?”

Her smile faded, seeing the look of apprehension on Hilda’s face.

“Is something wrong?”

“Aren’t you angry?” Hilda asked.

Maven tilted her head, frowning slightly.

“Er..no? You put it right in the end,” she said calmly. “To be honest, I was more put out that you copied that spellbook in secret than what you used it for,” she said lightly, peering into another tunnel. “I mean, if you had just told me what you were doing then I – wait...” Maven looked round at Hilda as she was struck by a thought.

“That’s what you did today,” she said slowly. “You ran off…because you didn’t want me to get in the way.”

Immediately Hilda took a sudden interest in the far side of the cavern.

“Oh,” the librarian said quietly, looking crestfallen. “…You don’t trust me at all, do you?”

“It’s not like that,” Hilda cut in hastily. “I just…Mum got so upset after what happened … I didn’t expect you to be okay with it…” she trailed off, casting Maven a cautious look.

“You seemed to trust me before,” Maven said quietly.

 _And then you showed up in my house_ , Hilda thought sullenly. Not that she could say it. Instead, she shrugged, avoiding Maven’s eye.

“It’s just...different, now.”

Before Maven could ask her to elaborate, she looked away again. "I'd...better keep looking for a way out."

Sensing that she wasn't going to get an answer, Maven turned her attention back to the matter at hand, her heart sinking. It was hard for her to miss the bitterness in Hilda's voice, but she did her best not to dwell on it. There was a time and place for working out just how she’d managed to screw things up so badly, and now couldn’t be further from it. At this point, she would be happy if they could both get home in one piece - not that she was finding anything more hopeful in that pursuit. Every minute that passed down here brought her closer to the same two conclusions: one, that they were on a time limit – if they were counting on daylight to find a means of escape, there were only so many more hours on offer to make that happen – and two, that Hilda had had a point. If they were to investigate every path, it would take forever to find a way out, time that they didn't really have. And it was more likely that something else would find them first.

She wasn’t exactly thrilled with either of them.

Maven held in a sigh. There _had_ to be other options, but she had to face it: they didn’t have time to find out.

“Okay,” she said slowly. She pulled a notebook out of her pocket, stepped into the beam of Hilda's flashlight and began scribbling something down.

“...What are you doing?” Hilda asked.

Maven kept writing, not taking her eyes off the page. “Do you still want to try that path?”

Slowly Hilda nodded. The librarian tore out the page and handed it to her. Hilda took it and squinted at what looked like writing, in a language she had never seen before.

“It’s a spell,” Maven said, in answer to Hilda’s confusion. “If anything happens, if you find any more salt lions - use it, immediately.”

Hilda tilted her head in confusion. “It’ll help?”

“It’ll make a blast of light,” Maven explained. “I know," she said, as Hilda pointed blankly at the flashlight in her hand. "But if you use that again, you're going to have an even bigger problem. Hopefully this will be enough to deter a salt lion without causing any more damage."

"It should work for you," she said, very much hoping she was right. "Just try to visualise what you're doing as you read it, and keep your palm open, like this. It shouldn't be so different from what you've done before." Hilda looked taken aback, but nodded slowly. "More importantly, if you use magic, I’ll know about it,” Maven added. Hilda looked up at her, not entirely following. “Then I can come find you.”

Hilda opened her mouth to question further, then closed it, putting the spell into her pocket. She didn’t completely know how it was supposed to help her, but seeing how important Maven seemed to think it was, she figured it was worth holding onto.

She quickly retraced her steps to the wall and looked it over. Once she was reassured that she could make the climb, Hilda glanced over at Maven. “...Are you sure you can’t come too?”

Maven shook her head. “Even if I knew how – ” She held up a hand in front of her, looking resignedly at Hilda as it shook slightly. “ – I think it’s best I don’t try.”

"Oh." Hilda looked up at the wall again, trying to work out where to begin. She realised Maven was holding out a hand to her, and allowed her to help her up onto the wall, before digging her shoes into the stone and starting to climb.

It didn’t take long for her to reach the opening, and she pulled herself up into it with ease, getting to her feet and peering over the edge. She hesitated as Maven reached up, holding out the flashlight to her. “Shouldn’t you keep it?” she asked. “You might need it.”

“I’ll be alright here,” Maven replied. “Witch, remember?” She threw the light to Hilda, who caught it easily, and stepped back. “I’ll manage.”

Hilda nodded and straightened up, casting a nervous glance at the tunnel behind her. She wasn’t a stranger to exploring places on her own, but she at least usually had one of her friends with her, or Twig. Now, it was beginning to dawn on her that she wasn’t as confident about going off alone as she had thought.

“Everything okay?” Maven asked gently, making Hilda realise she had failed to move.

“I’m fine,” Hilda replied, a bit more forcefully than she had meant to. It was easy for her to see that Maven wasn’t convinced.

“We can still look for another way – ”

“No, it's alright,” Hilda cut in. “This is our best bet, isn’t it? I just need to find daylight, like you said. I can do that.”

For a moment Maven looked anxious, before giving a weak smile. “Okay, then. Just...don’t forget what I told you about the spell. I’ll look out for you, I promise.”

Hilda couldn’t quite see how the librarian intended to do that, but she found hearing it from her at least faintly reassuring. She turned to look at the path behind her, which was narrower and just as dark. She hoped she was right about this.

“Um.” She paused for a moment, absent-mindedly finding the page that Maven had given her in her pocket. “I will come back, you know,” she said.

Maven tilted her head, but in the semi-darkness, it was difficult to see if she was reassured. “Just focus on staying safe,” she replied. "Okay?"

Hilda drew in a breath. “Okay.”

With one last look over her shoulder, Hilda closed her hand around the spell, and set off into the darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me, writing this chapter: owlcats can be a little overpowered. as a treat :) okay so, since in the show Twig can track by scent it just made sense to me that familiar-type animals have a tracking ability, so they can always find their person. Idk, makes sense in my head. Freyja is part bat now  
> Anyway, apparently I'm incapable of ending on something that isn't vaguely cliff-hanger-y. I promise this is the last time I end an update like this  
> I'm sorry to anyone who's following this that it's taking so long. I don't really have a good reason except that I'm not great at focusing and now have about 3 other hilda WIPs waiting in the wings, but people leaving nice comments on this helped a lot. I wanna finish this soon if I can. Plus it's only a matter of time til season 2 wrecks even more of my ideas (:  
> The good thing is that I have _almost_ the entire rest of the story written out so the next update should be a lot faster!! maybe? hopefully? we'll see


End file.
